Lt. Gen. David Petraeus
Posted on 02/05/2007 10:52:32 AM PST by TexKat
WASHINGTON — Lt. Gen. David Petraeus, the new U.S. commander in Iraq, is assembling a small band of warrior-intellectuals in a last-ditch effort to reverse the downward trend in the Iraq war. They include a quirky Australian anthropologist, a Princeton economist who is the son of a former U.S. attorney general, and a military expert on the Vietnam War sharply critical of its top commanders.
Army officers tend to refer to the group as "Petraeus guys" — smart colonels who have been noticed by Petraeus, and who make up one of the most selective clubs in the world: Military officers with doctorates from top-flight universities and combat experience in Iraq.
Essentially, the Army is turning the war over to its dissidents, who have criticized the way the service has operated there over the past three years, and letting them try to wage the war their way.
"Their role is crucial if we are to reverse the effects of four years of conventional mindset fighting an unconventional war," said one Special Forces colonel who knows some of the officers.
(Excerpt) Read more at insidebayarea.com ...
Lt. Gen. David Petraeus
Petraeus gathers learned advisers ping.
Hey I think we should go for a military junta led by a guy like Petraeus for about 10-15 years because the muckety mucks in Washington just aren't doing it right (and that includes the Bushies as well as the Pinko Pelosi crowd).
Well, this guy *did* write the book on COIN operations.
Hope it worlks out. In the end tho, the guy at the pointy end of the stick impliments policy, so I hope the good General leads from a little closer to the front.
Australian to join US command in Iraq
Tuesday Feb 6 05:50 AEDT
An Australian army colonel has been chosen by the new US commander in Iraq to join his team of advisers on strategy.
Lieutenant-Colonel David Kilcullen, 39, served in East Timor and is on secondment to the US State Department. He will be General David Petraeus's chief adviser on counterinsurgency operations, The Washington Post reports.
Lt-Col Kilcullen is part of a group assembled by General David Petraeus of military officers with doctorates from top-flight universities and experience in Iraq.
The newspaper said Lt-Col Kilcullen is a "quirky" and "outspoken officer" who holds a PhD in anthropology, for which he studied Islamic extremism in Indonesia.
Other members of the group include an economist from Princeton University and a military expert on the Vietnam War.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=96953
Air Force combat airpower helps turn tide in decisive Battle of An Najaf
My opinion of Lt. Gen. Petraeus is now higher than it already was. WaPo should reassign Ricks to writing movie reviews, nobody pays attention to them anyway.
No womyn in this bunch?
Tom Ricks is as full of himself and baloney as there is in DC. After listening to him for more than an hour contradicting himself on Hugh Hewitt, I've decided to pay him as much attention as he deserves: none.
Oh sh!t..now you've done it. Pelosi probably has staffers who read FR.
Sounds like those who tried and failed are terrified that General Petraeus and his tream may try and actually win. The one inescapable fact is that the current methodology ain't working. Trying General Petraeus's way seems like the most logical course of action.
Also here (different headline)
Officers With PHDs Advising War Effort
Washington Post ^ | 2/5/07 | Thomas Ricks
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1779432/posts
Remember McMaster & Petraeus worked for and followed the orders of "Those who tried and failed". While we're at it let's define "Tried and Failed".
See tagline.
bttt
But they also demonstrated some creative thinking and localized succsses in the areas they commanded.
While we're at it let's define "Tried and Failed".
See current situation in Iraq. Unless you think that we're doing fine and nothing needs to change.
But they also demonstrated some creative thinking and localized succsses in the areas they commanded
Agree 100%
Unless you think that we're doing fine and nothing needs to change.
More of Iraq is peaceful. You stand a better chance of something bad happening to you in south-central LA than you do in (say) Kirkut or Basra.
Remember in any war plan the enemy always gets a vote.
(once again) See tagline.
More of Iraq is peaceful=Most of Iraq
Memo to self: Read the damn reply BEFORE you post it that way you won't look like such an idiot!
You don't have 135 people at a crack blown up by car bombs in south-central LA, either. If you're willing to call Iraq a success then by all means let's bring 'em home and let the Iraqis get on with the job of running their country. But nobody looking at Baghdad or Mosul or the areas around them can call it a success. And since we've been in those areas as long as Kirkut and Basra then obviously whatever they've been doing there to date isn't bringing the situation under control. And the fact that Petraeus and his team are being put in charge is a tacit admission of that. So it's time for fresh leadership and a change in tactics. The best thing the President can do is to give General Petraeus and his staff the room to do what they think necessary, keep Congress off their back, and stay out it.
"Petraeus gathers learned advisers"
Does this mean he is asking the Senate for advice? Since they know everything there is to know about war and military matters.../s
Where did I say it's a success? It's not...yet. Better plan on American troops to be there (not in the numbers we have now) for 10-20 years. Because that's how long (at least) it's going to take.
Actually there a large parts of Iraq where the crime/murder rate is much higher in many American cities.
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